Could you picture a more perfect place for an historical preservation curator to have her wedding, than the Old Sturbridge Village living history museum? It was a perfect fit for our bride Lauren, who is a curator for Preservation Long Island. For anyone who has never had the opportunity to visit this popular attraction, it’s a fully operational New England village from the 1830s, complete with 40 historic buildings, a covered bridge, horse-drawn carriages, heritage breed farm animals, and authentically costumed staff. It’s truly a step back in time, and they host weddings on this incredible property!

We started off the day by doing hair and makeup for Lauren and her bridal party at the Oliver Wight House – a federal style mansion built in 1789 – at the Old Sturbridge Inn & Reeder Family Lodges. Right from the start Lauren knew she wanted to include elements of history in the bridal beauty for her wedding day. She requested a hair crown, and makeup in earthy tones that complemented the beauty of her cream-colored antique lace gown.

Here are some photos from Lauren’s historic-inspired wedding day, by the always phenomenal Ramblefree Photo Co.

It’s officially Spring here now, although it still feels so much like Winter! New England is always a bit slow to bring on the warmer temperatures, but they are just around the corner, along with bridal season! To brighten up the chill, I wanted to share some of the photos – and a video! – from our beautiful bride Marisa’s wedding at Tower Hill Botanic Garden. Love & Perry Photography and Films did a phenomenal job capturing the beauty of this day (as always!).

For makeup, I gave Marisa a “natural bridal glam” look – nothing too overdone since it was a garden wedding, but an extra bit of wow factor on her eyes to accompany her darker features. For her hair, our stylist Chelsea created a beautiful side-swept chignon. Marisa pulled the look off beautifully!

Here in New England we are fortunate to be surrounded by a lot of colonial history, and our wedding venues in central MA certainly reflect that. The Salem Cross Inn in West Brookfield is one of my favorites, and incorporates a beautiful colonial-era farmhouse with a gorgeous attached post and beam barn. Surrounded by rolling hills dotted with grazing cattle, it is quintessential New England and a fantastic choice for a wedding!

I’m excited to share some photos of our past bride Alicia and her wedding at Salem Cross Inn. She chose to get ready upstairs in the bridal area of the farmhouse, where we have lots of space, great natural light, and a beautiful view of the surrounding landscape. Her photographer Mike Hendrickson of Unitymike Photography grabbed some fantastic shots of us getting Alicia and her bridal party ready. Everyone looked gorgeous!

Meet Andreina, our newest member of the Christy & Co. team. Andreina, who also goes by Nina, grew up with a love of all things beauty and fashion, and always knew she wanted a career for herself that involved making women look and feel beautiful. She decided to make that a reality in 2007 when she started the cosmetology program at Blaine Beauty School, focusing on both hair and makeup. After completing the program, she started assisting artists that specialize in the wedding industry, and that’s when she knew that bridal beauty was going to be a focus for her. 10 years later, Andreina joined the Christy & Co. team in 2017.

Meet Andreina!

In addition to focusing on bridal beauty, Andreina also freelances for MAC Cosmetics and works for Ulta, which allows her to stay on top of the constantly changing trends in the beauty industry. She is multi-talented with both hair and makeup, and focuses on creating a variety of bridal hair designs, from soft and romantic to artistic and sculpted.

Here are some examples of recent bridal hair work Andreina has done. So pretty!

In her spare time, Andreina enjoys spending time with her husband and children, exploring different types of foods and restaurants, dancing at Zumba events, and singing in her church choir.

Here are a few professional shots from weddings Andreina has worked with us recently.

Next up in our ‘Meet the Team!’ blog posts is talented makeup artist Veronica! She began freelancing as a makeup artist in 2011 while attending college in Albany, NY, after her classmate and close friend started doing makeup for weddings and needed an assistant artist to help out. Now in her 7th year as a makeup artist, Veronica is currently located in MA. A New England native, Veronica grew up in CT, and frequently finds herself working weddings throughout the Northeast, focusing on the greater-Boston and Windsor, CT areas. Her favorite part of the business is being chosen to enhance a bride’s natural beauty, while playing a part in such a special day. She joined the Christy & Co. team in 2015.

Meet Veronica!

Veronica is currently enrolled in the Advanced Esthetics program at the Catherine Hinds Institute and anticipates completing the program in April of this year.

Veronica is also an avid dog-lover, and although she doesn’t have any of her own, she volunteers her time with several dog rescues and can be found walking dogs at her local shelter.

Here are some examples of beautiful bridal makeup Veronica has done, from super natural, to glam, and everything in between:

Today’s ‘Meet the Team!’ blog post is an introduction to our fantastic hair designer Chelsea! Born and raised in Michigan, Chelsea started in the beauty industry 11 years ago, and received her cosmetology license in 2009. She moved to Massachusetts in 2014, and the Christy & Co. team has been blessed with her presence ever since! She is a master of updos and is the ultimate braid whisperer. She’s also been told that her hair creations are #hairgoals (yes, the hashtag was included!).

Meet Chelsea! (Photo by Meredith Jane Photography)

Chelsea’s love of hairstyling started at a very young age – namely when she decided to use her sister as a real-life mannequin head and chopped off her ponytail (she swears she’s come a long way since then!). Her younger siblings – 2 sisters and a brother – were often models for her to practice on, and in high school she could be found doing formal hair for her sisters and friends for homecoming and prom. It was never any surprise that Chelsea would eventually make a career in this industry! Here are some examples of the gorgeous bridal hairstyles Chelsea has created for our clients since coming on board with us in 2014.

As I’m sure you can see, Chelsea is a perfectionist with her work. She will keep going until the final goal is perfectly achieved, even if that means switching things up in the middle of a style if it’s not working the way she envisioned. Where other stylists may make accommodations to continue on with what they are doing, I’ve seen Chelsea take apart what she’s been working on and start from scratch, to ensure the client gets EXACTLY what the client wants. This results in a lot of happy brides and bridal parties!

And speaking of happy bridal parties, Chelsea thrives on the energy surrounding a wedding day. She’s always excited to get to work, loves how she gets to make people feel special and even more beautiful on such an important day, and often goes home wishing she could get married all over again! She is truly a wedding addict!

When she’s not working, Chelsea loves to spend time with her husband (she’s married to her high school sweetheart!) and their rescue dog, Cornelius. She enjoys cooking, traveling, and working out, and she and her husband are what some might consider “beer snobs” – they love to travel all over to different breweries and try the different beers.

I’ll finish off this blog post with some of the professional photos we’ve received showcasing Chelsea’s beautiful hair work over the years.

Photo by Jen Walts PhotographyPhoto by The Imagery StudioPhoto by Bunnell PhotographyPhoto by Ollie.M PhotographyPhoto by Joe Dolen PhotographyPhoto by George Street Photos

Gorgeous work, Chelsea! We’re looking forward to our 5th wedding season together with you this year!

When our past bride Nilsa reached out to us about providing hair and makeup for her daughter’s Sweet 15 Quinceañera celebration last month, and told us it was going to be Aladdin-themed, let’s just say we were a little bit excited! Any time we get to do something creative, it makes us happy! And what beauty team wouldn’t love turning a 15-year-old girl into a Disney princess?!

Here are some sneak peek photos that we took just as we finished up with her hair & makeup at our studio. We went with a strong Middle-eastern dramatic eye look, paired with a long signature Jasmine braid. She looked beautiful!

And check out these beautiful images of birthday girl Cristal, representing Princess Jasmine, in her Quinceañera gown!

Continuing on with our ‘Meet the Team!’ series, today I’d like to introduce you to our incredibly talented makeup artist Alexandra. Alex has been doing makeup professionally since 2010, and has represented such brands as MAC Cosmetics, Smashbox, Tom Ford, and Juice Beauty. In 2014 she joined the Christy & Co. team, and has been one of our valued makeup artists over the past 4 years.

Meet Alexandra!

In addition to doing makeup, Alex is also a licensed esthetician, a graduate of the Catherine Hinds Institute and provides a full array of aesthetic services at a spa on the North Shore. She can often be heard offering skincare advice to our clients while doing their makeup, and recommends products for our brides at their trial runs to get their skin into tip top shape for their wedding day! Who doesn’t love THAT?

Here are some before & after examples of Alex’s makeup work:

Alexandra’s favorite part of the business is being able to combine creativity with building confidence in women. She loves helping them to feel beautiful, both in how they look and in how they feel when they leave her makeup chair.

Cool fact: Alex was the makeup artist for one of our past brides who had THE Bobbi Brown (makeup artist icon and creator of the Bobbi Brown cosmetics line) as a guest in attendance at her wedding. Bobbi gave us a shout out on Instagram, saying the bridal party looked perfect!

Here are some professional photos taken of our past weddings where Alex was the lead artist:

Photo by The Imagery StudioPhoto by The Imagery StudioPhoto by Adriano Batti PhotographyPhoto by Servidone StudiosPhoto by Servidone StudiosPhoto by George Street PhotoPhoto by Tiny Human PhotographyPhoto by The Ewings Photography Studio

Gorgeous work, right?!

When not focusing on makeup and skincare, Alex loves to use her creativity in other forms. She enjoys starting things from scratch, whether it be baking a cake or refinishing a piece of furniture. And she is a fantastic cook (as a foodie I can attest to this)! She is also an animal lover and loves to spend time with her 3 adorable family dogs – Freya, Khaleesi & Ollie.

We love having you as part of the team, Alex! So glad to have you for a 5th wedding season here with Christy & Co.!

Meet Betsy. She’s one of the superstar makeup artists on our team. Always an artist, Betsy fell in love with makeup as a medium when she started working for Sephora in 2009. Their training programs took her to Boston and New York City, and in 2011 when she realized she wanted to focus more on the application of makeup rather than the sales end of it, she joined the Christy & Co. team!

Photo by Seth Kaye Photography

Betsy’s favorite part of doing makeup for weddings is having the opportunity to make people feel like the best version of themselves, when she holds the mirror up for the bride to see herself for the first time, and they say, “Wow! I look SO good!” (Above photo is clearly one of those moments!)

Betsy is not a cookie cutter, one-look-fits-all artist. Her creativity and natural artistic talent enables her to customize a look according to each client’s individual features while staying within their comfort zone. Any time Betsy is working a wedding with me, it’s a given that I’m going to hear a lot of happy exclamations from clients as they are hopping out of Betsy’s makeup chair!

Here are some of our favorite images from weddings that Betsy has done the makeup for: the first of each is a shot of the bride while having her makeup done and the second is the completed look.

Photo by Bridget ParmenterPhoto by Bridget ParmenterPhoto by Betsy MitchellPhoto by Bunnell PhotographyPhoto by Aubrey GreenePhoto by Aubrey GreenePhoto by Annandale PhotographyPhoto by Annandale Photography

In addition to working weddings with us, Betsy also works as a server at a busy restaurant and is a full-time student in college working towards becoming an art teacher. In her free time (are you sure you have free time, Betsy?!), she loves to paint and draw – she has made some gorgeous chalkboard creations for some of our brides! – and is also a fellow foodie!

As I’m sure you may have noticed in the photos above, Betsy has a full sleeve tattoo on her right arm, that photographers just LOVE to photograph! Every wedding that I get photos from has a picture of Betsy’s arm included. And cool fact – Betsy drew some of the artwork that is incorporated into it!

I’ll finish up this blog post with a couple group shots from weddings that Betsy worked. Because she is a supah-stah!, Betsy did the makeup for all the women in these bridal parties. She’s talented, AND efficient!

Continuing with our Meet the Team! blog posts, today I’d like to introduce you to Renee, one of the bridal hair designers on the Christy & Co. team. Renee joined our business in 2011, and I wouldn’t be exaggerating if I said she has probably done a good 3000+ bridal hairstyles for us since that day. Anyone who has had the pleasure of having Renee as their bridal hairstylist knows that she is incredibly sweet, incredibly talented, and incredibly FAST. It is almost a guarantee that we will hear “I can’t believe how fast you are!” said at every wedding she works. It’s not uncommon for her to finish 10 heads of hair in the same amount of time it takes me to do makeup on 4 faces. I joke around that she should wear a Wonder Woman cape, but honestly… she really should!

Meet Renee! (Photo by Alvah Reida Photography)

Renee received her cosmetology license in 2006, and has been working in the field ever since. She realized bridal hair design was her passion, and focuses almost solely on that, always looking to stay on top of the trends and perfecting her techniques. Here are some examples of the gorgeous bridal updos Renee has created for us through the years, ranging from “loose and effortless” to “sleek and elegant”:

Renee comes from an incredibly talented, artistic family! Her mom is also a hairstylist, and is always creating art in some form, whether it be painting and crafting, carving pumpkins for local jack-o-lantern spectaculars, or making Christmas decor. And her father makes incredible, one-of-a-kind creations out of wood and vines. The apple truly did not fall far from the tree with Renee! Creativity runs in her veins.

In her spare time, Renee loves to spend time with her family, which includes her husband, 9-year-old son, and 6-year-old daughter. She has a slew of pets, including chickens and goats. And she’s also a pretty fantastic shabby chic furniture refinisher!

I’ll finish this post with a few professional photographer images of Renee’s work from some of our past weddings. The wedding hairstyle is just one piece of the whole bridal puzzle, and it’s always incredible to see how it fits in with the rest of the wedding look!